Venable Tobacco Company Prizery and Receiving Room
Why it's listed
Built around 1930 on East Pettigrew Street in Durham, this three-story prizery and its attached 1952 receiving room were part of a tobacco handling complex used for rehandling, sorting, drying and packing leaf. The prizery has load-bearing brick walls, heavy timber posts and beams, steel hopper windows and flat lintels, a simpler style than the neighboring 1905 warehouse. The receiving room is a one-story trapezoidal addition of concrete block with steel columns and numerous skylights. A boiler room, redrying plant, stemming building and cooper shop once surrounded the prizery, and their outlines remain visible on its walls. The property is significant for its role in Durham's bright leaf tobacco trade as the prizery of the Venable Tobacco Company, linked to the Dibrell Brothers brokerage. It is one of only two surviving prizeries in the city. The period of significance runs from about 1930 to 1953, though operations continued into the early 1980s.
Significance in brief: The nomination argues the property is significant under Criterion A at the local level as the prizery of the Venable Tobacco Company, a branch of Dibrell Brothers, a major leaf brokerage firm. It is one of two surviving prizeries in Durham, a building type essential to the bright leaf tobacco trade. Together with the neighboring Venable Warehouse it forms one of two remaining independent tobacco company complexes in the city.
Machine-generated summary. This summary was generated by a language model from the official nomination document and has not been reviewed line by line by an editor. It may contain errors. Check the source document before relying on any detail. Source: nomination document (PDF) · National Archives catalog entry. NRHP reference 03000804, listed August 21, 2003. Summary generated October 2026 (model claude-sonnet-5-5, prompt v1.0-2026-10-29, confidence medium).
Key facts
| Address | 302-04 East Pettigrew, Durham |
|---|---|
| County | Durham County |
| Listed | August 21, 2003 |
| Reference number | 03000804 |
| Resource type | Building |
| Period of significance | circa 1930-1953 |
| Architect / builder | Unknown |
| Architectural style | Other: slow burn industrial construction |
| Criteria |
|
| Areas of significance | Industry |
| Level of significance | Local |
| Status (as stated in the nomination) | The prizery was partitioned around 1980 but retains its integrity. The receiving room is divided into two tenant spaces, used as a carpentry shop and a kick-boxing business. The tobacco facility operated until the early 1980s. |
| Acreage | 1.5 |
| Within district | Downtown Durham Historic District |
| Coordinates | 35.99322, -78.89931 (NPS GIS) |
What listing means for this property
For an income-producing building, listing (individually or as a contributing building in a district) is the gateway to the 20% federal rehabilitation tax credit on qualified rehabilitation costs, often stackable with state credits. Work claiming the credit must follow the Secretary of the Interior's Standards and be approved in advance.
Listing does not restrict a private owner acting without federal money or permits; where federal funding or licensing is involved, Section 106 review applies.
General information, not legal or tax advice. Rules change; confirm with your State Historic Preservation Office or a qualified adviser.
Sources and further reading
- National Park Service, National Register of Historic Places database (snapshot May 2026), reference 03000804.
- Nomination form (PDF, National Archives) — catalog entry
- Wikipedia article (used for cross-checking only; text not reproduced here)
- Wikidata Q21016301
- This listing as JSON
Last updated October 2026. Found an error? See the editorial policy for how to report it.